Wolfpack dreams come true for Williams grad

RALEIGH — Kaley Moser arrived at North Carolina State with the intention of being a normal student.

After a few weeks, the former Williams High School basketball and soccer standout knew something was missing.

“I started going to classes and getting in my routine, and I just wasn’t quite happy, I guess,” Moser said. “I said, ‘Something’s missing, I feel like a normal student,’ and that wasn’t OK with me.”

Her solution?

Join the N.C. State women’s basketball team as a walk-on.

“I love the challenge and I love the opportunity,” Moser said. “I’m just going to work so hard with it and never take it for granted because it’s a dream come true.”

Moser earned a spot on the team after about a three-week tryout before the season started. She has played in four games, with the highlight being a basket against Longwood to give N.C. State 100 points in the game.

The freshman drew the eye of coach Kellie Harper during her tryout. Now, Harper has high praise for the Williams product.

“I’m so thankful we have her in our program,” Harper said of Moser. “She’s the type of person that you want to be around. She’s the type of person you want in your program.”

It wasn’t quitea direct path to the women’s basketball team, though Moser eagerly admits that every part of the journey was worth any nerve-racking moments and the whirlwind of events.

She joined the club basketball team after a few weeks on campus, and “loved it.” Moser, a four-year starter at Williams and a Times-News All-Region pick last season, had seemingly filled the void and found a better way to enjoy college.

“I met a lot of girls, it was a good way to meet friends,” Moser said. “We went to a tournament and played and it was really fun. We were still working hard, so I was still playing the game.”

Then, along came another opportunity.

A manager with the women’s team, who also helps coach the club team, suggested that the players participate in the upcoming tryout for the women’s team.

“He would blurt out the date, the time and be like, ‘You better be there,’ ” Moser said. “All the girls on the team were like, ‘No, why would I do that?’ And I’m like, ‘Why not? Why wouldn’t you do that?’ ”

Moser worked with the manager, Chris Sullivan, before the tryout on a few drills that the women’s team runs. Her focus was to familiarize herself with the drills to cut down on any mishaps during her tryout period.

It worked, although there were still uneasy moments.

“I was still nervous, but I showed up and worked hard,” Moser said.

After three weeksof going through workouts and practices, Moser had established herself as one of two finalists for a walk-on spot.

And, despite having an academic schedule that made it difficult for her to attend some practices or workouts for their entirety, Moser had fully shown her willingness to compete for an Atlantic Coast Conference program.

“Whenever they would call, like (senior guard) Marissa (Kastanek) would call and say, ‘Hey, you wanna come play pickup?’ I’d drop everything and get over here,” Moser said.

“It was about a three-week period of I don’t know if I’m going to make it, but I’m just going to give it my all.”

When it came down to a Thursday afternoon, Moser was headed to a chemistry class.

About five minutes before class — at about 2:30 p.m. as Moser estimated — she received a call from Harper.

“She said, ‘Well Kaley, we’d like to thank you for trying out,’ and I was like, ‘Uhh,’ and she was like, ‘But, we’d like to add you to the team if that’s something you’d like to do and understand your role,’ ” Moser said. “… I didn’t sit straight through that chemistry class.”

Now, Moser’s spoton the team is mostly on the bench — understandable for a freshman walk-on who joined the team mere weeks before the season started.

But you won’t have to look far on the bench to spot the former Williams standout.

Harper assigns her guards to sit on the far right, closest to the scorer’s table at home games. A somewhat unconventional method, but one that results in Moser often having the seat closest to the mid-court line.

“I guess for a few different reasons, but all the guards sit up there,” Moser said. “And yea, I guess you do have first access to give high-fives, tell people to keep going or good job.

“And then Kellie is also telling me to look at the coach’s calls down the line. So, different things. She said, ‘Kaley, if I get too far out, tell me to come back.’ Little things like that. She told me that’s where I’m supposed to sit.”

Moser’s season thus far hasn’t come without a few personal highlights. Like when she hit a jump shot against Longwood to boost the Wolfpack to the 100-point plateau. She also grabbed two rebounds in a game this month against Elon University, with several former Williams teammates in the stands at Reynolds Coliseum to cheer her on.

Moser’s role is one that Harper laid out before the season began, which the freshman willingly embraced.

“I remember I was going recruiting and I called her on the phone and just said, ‘Hey, to be a walk-on is not glamorous,’ ” Harper said. “ ‘You may or may not get to play. You’re going to have to work just as hard as everybody else in practice, but I want you to be on the team.’

“She accepted willingly, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made all year.”

It’s a seat and role with the Wolfpack that Moser, who has been a lifelong N.C. State fan, said she won’t take for granted.

“It’s a process. I’m ready to keep working, keep getting better,” Moser said. “Every day, like when we’re doing weights or watching film, what can I be learning? Because there’s so much, and just learning the system and learning the plays and all the defenses.

“It’s different from high school, that’s for sure. But every bit of the work is so worth it, because at the end of the day I walk away and remind myself that this is my dream and that, I mean, I’m just grateful to have this opportunity but I’m not going to take it lightly. I’m going to pursue it with everything that I have.”

Not bad for somebody who just couldn’t quite fit into the normal college student life.